Satish Vyas
Sitting cross-legged, cradling his Santoor, quiet, contemplative, introspective, his eyes seem focussed on an inner vision. And as his nimble fingers coax fragile, mellifluous sounds out of those delicate strings one cannot help but get transported to another dimension...
One admired the way he showered(notes) like rose petals, teasing permutations with a thoroughness that revealed his technical as well as his aesthetic competency.
Statesman (Delhi. August 10, 1989)
(Source: http://www.satishvyas.com/index1.asp)
The Personality...
Born on 16th November 1952, Satish started learning vocal music from his father at the age of 14 as a result of listening to a Santoor recital. Although his initial grounding took place in the idiom of his father's lingo as it were, it was to Santoor that young Satish's heart was set. At the request of his father, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma took Satish on as his disciple. The combination of training under both his father and Shivji has given Satish an ability to display gayaki ang as well as layakari / tantrakari ang in his Santoor playing.
Pandit Satish Vyas has been a regular concert artist for the last two decades or so, performing and recording all over India and the world, more extensively in the USA, UK & Europe, Japan and Australasia. He has contributed materially in popularising the Santoor in remote places, not only performing in small villages and towns in India but abroad as well, in addition to major city centres. In 1997, he was the only non-Western instrumentalist invited to perform in Venice, Italy at the "Mostra Mozart Festival", organised by the prestigious European Mozart Foundation. Satish Vyas manifested his versatility by performing as a "guest musician" with the Jazz / World Music Fusion Group, "Silk" accompanying the renowned vocalist Shankar Mahadevan, the Percussion maestro Shivamani, well known Composer /Pianist / Keyboard artiste Louis Banks and Karl Peters (Bass Guitar) at a Barbican Centre concert in London.
Satish Vyas has a number of recordings to his credit with labels such as UK-based Navras Records, Sony Music, Music Today, Times Music and BMG Crescendo. His title releases to-date with Navras Records include "Strings Of Your Soul" (NRCD 0061, Ragas Malkauns & Sohini), Raga Marwa (NRCD 0074), and "Cascade" (NRCD 0103, Raga Jog) and "Dreamwaves" (NRCD 0138, Raga Kalavati) & Moods of Yoga(Set of 4 CD's)
Before taking the decision to make music his profession, Satish Vyas had completed his education with a Bachelor's degree(B.Sc) in Mathematics followed by Master's degrees in Statistics(M.Sc.) and then Business Administration(MBA). On the back of this very strong and sound academic background he began to establish a career in the business world. His corporate career took him to work with rather well known organisations such as ICICI, NCPA, Philips and HMV. At NCPA, he had the fortune to work with Pu La Deshpande. At HMV(now known as Sa Re GaMa), he was a Consultant. Over the past ten years he has been a Director of Navras Records in India. Navras is a prestigious classical and traditional music label, originally set up in London, UK and whose large repertoire is distributed in India through Sony Nâd label of Sony Music.
Given his exposure to the Corporate world, his global travel on concert tours and his involvement with the music fraternity and industry, Satish has developed a unique personality. He has very highly developed inter-personal skills and sensitivity as well as an understanding of the practical world of business. Combining these with his music prowess has resulted in his success and acknowledgement in the world of Indian classical music as a very significant, multi-faceted and much-respected individual. Not only the general public but also the music connoisseurs, musicians and critics think of him as a musician with substance and unrivalled versatility.
This varied background is no doubt of tremendous use to him in his work as a major and one of the most successful organisers of classical music festivals in India, and indeed as Artistic Director of Navras Records in India. Satish Vyas has perhaps a unique claim to have organised and promoted one of the most successful and respected music festival on an All-India basis, covering 5 major metropolitan centres. The Gunidas Sangeet Sammelan, established in the memory of his father Pandit C. R. Vyas's Guru, has recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, another unique milestone of its kind! Starting out as an organiser / promoter without any expectation, he has propagated classical music by presenting concerts in the traditional way. Not only has he presented all the major maestros of the time, but he has made a point of also providing a respected platform for younger artistes - something acknowledged by senior musicians like Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Kishori Amonkar, Ustad Zakir Hussain and many more. By his pluralistic approach, he has promoted musicians and music of quality – something that has gained a substantial following among music lovers across India, who patronise his festivals.
In his role as Director and Advisor to Navras Records, he has brought his tremendous experience, knowledge and vision in substantially developing the presence and acknowledgement of the label's repertoire in India (through Sony Music) but also provided access to sourcing of fresh recordings, developing additional connections and developing strategic vision.
Satish Vyas is also recognised by musicians and those that know him well as having set a standard envied by many parents and Gurus in the manner in which he has conducted himself in relation to his parents, specifically his father and first Guru (Pita – Mata Seva) as well as his Guru, Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma (Guru Seva), consistent with the old values and traditions of his sanskar and parampara. He has also carried the tradition of teaching and has a number of disciples in India and the US.
Pandit Satish Vyas was honoured with Padma Shri by The Government Of India.
(Source: http://www.satishvyas.com/artiste.asp)
The Instrument... Santoor
The emergence of the santoor on the classical concert scene, as a full-fledged solo instrument, is a recent development. Yet it has come to signify a historic phase in the annals of India's centuries-old traditional music. Strange but true, the santoor had never been employed in Hindustani classical music, nor had it traveled outside the valley of Kashmir as late as till 1955. Santoor was associated with 'Sufiana Mausiqi'. Santoor's Sanskrit name was "Shatatantri Veena" (A lute of hundred strings). The name Santoor is attributed to the Persians. Then there appeared Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, his trapezium- shaped multi-string instrument, on the concert scene.
Initially, the music of the santoor had a mixed reaction from the music-lovers. This reaction was perhaps predictable, but young Shivkumar, endowed as he was with qualities of courage, vision and enterprise, was undaunted by these early experiences, and he addressed himself to the task of caring out a series of innovations and experimentation's and relentless research. Today's santoor, which has come to enjoy unprecedented popularity among all strata of music-lovers all over the world, is truly symbolic of his versatile genius.
Simply put, the santoor consists of a about a 100 strings of varying lengths. The strings are stretched over a wooden box, shaped like trapezium, as mentioned earlier. The instrument also resembles a horizontal harp. Similar Instruments are found all over the world like 'Santoor' in Iran, 'Yang Chin' in China, 'Cimbalom' in Hungary and Rumania, 'Santoori' in Greece, 'Hack Bret' in Germany, 'Hammered Dulcimer' in certain European Countries and America.
The most notable feature of its instrumentation is the manner of tone production, because, unlike other string instruments, the santoor is played with a pair of soft wooden tongs. Their gentle strokes on the strings afford a plentitude of delicate but lively tonal effects reminiscent of the piano or the harp. The tones of Shivkumarji's santoor - and also of the Santoors used by his disciple- reveals a shimmering grace of movement with a novelty and charm of their own.
(Source: http://www.satishvyas.com/instrument.asp) Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
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